


Hear - Feel - Think : Reflections on FFXIV

by Farstrider



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, a retrospective, thoughts and musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 14:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30090816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farstrider/pseuds/Farstrider
Summary: A retrospective - kind of rant really - on Final Fantasy XIV and the story so far. A lot of people rave about the game, try to suck people in, and sometimes struggle with how to explain what makes it SO GOOD. In watching other people's first impressions it dawned on me... we the players are the protagonist. But it means so much more than what it seems.So have a seat, have a warm cup of coco dear hero, and let's talk about our story.Vague spoilers ahead.
Kudos: 3





	1. Echoes of a Rising Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to me and the kinda thesis. An overview of where we're going though it doesn't do a great job. It is the effort that counts right?

As the Moogle Tomestone event rolls back around and the snow starts to give way to the muddy beginnings of spring I find myself thinking about how I got here. This time last year a LOT of things were going on - I mean it was 2020 - what didn't happen? Finding myself indoors with a lot of time and some games I usually loved just... not being fun I decided to check out something I abandoned long ago. With my partner in crime (aka my significant other henceforth referred to as Gai) we took a step back into Eorzia and Final Fantasy 14. 

When FFXIV came out in 2010 I was already SUPER entrenched in another MMO (massively multiplayer online game) called World of Warcraft. Wrath of the Lichking, arguably one of the best expansions ever, was starting to wind down even as I pushed progression raiding hard. I'd been playing since 2005 and had no real inclination to play anything else. Cataclysm had been announced and everyone was super hype about it. I had tickets to Blizzcon that year and worked hard on questions to ask in the Q&A. I had thought about making MMOs my full time gig - podcasts, news posts, checking out this streaming thing - with little attention paid to FFXIV and with no knowledge of the global financial collapse on the horizon. Or at least it hadn't affected me yet.

In the way back when I had played Final Fantasy 11 online. That is how I met some friends and eventually got converted over to WoW some years later. After dying enough to lose 5 levels and be forced to re-do an unlock quest to up my level cap to where I had been, I had enough and made the switch. I played WoW faithfully up until the end of Cataclysm. I had gotten into the beta with my guild, ground up levels, did beta testing of end game content, and then the game launched and I had to do it again...for real. When I realized I had to do so much of it again on 30+ characters expanding across both factions, all classes, and most races... it wasn't worth it. Some other personal shit too so I peaced out.

FFXIV didn't pop back up on my radar until friends tried to get me to play some years later. I got into the game, got hype enough for Stormblood to pre-order, and tried to catch up but to no avail. I also had Star Wars the Old Republic and at the time it was WAY more fun to play with friends on epic adventures with engaging story than... being left alone to level again as I had been in Wow. I got to like 35 and called it a wash.

Back to Wow I went up until the slog that was Battle for Azeroth rolled around. I came back to the game from SWTOR late Mists of Pandaria and had so much catch up to do I felt like I missed cool things and was so far behind I was irrelevant. After all the game was always at the end, at level cap, and that wasn't where I was. Warlords of Draenor was hyped as hell and... was fine. Legion was amazing - it had everything I wanted. Strong class identity with their own base, story, and characters that belonged to them and wove in and out of other quests I had done. A weapon of unbridled power and steeped thick in lore that I was now a part of its story. Struggle and strife leading to the culmination of a long ass story and the scariest enemy we had ever faced. Then Battle for Azeroth sort of tore apart everything Legion had built up and I... lost my place in the world. I felt like the immersion was broken and so much so I doubted I could ever feel that again. Shadowlands hasn't helped with it either and I haven't felt compelled really to play or keep going. 

That's when we decided to try FFXIV again...and it was just what we needed for a time when the world was just the worst. I've been in Eorzia for a year now, gotten to the current content in story and started working on my 5th level 80 class. I am neck deep in grinding for my new relics, trying to level my crafters, working on a cohesive static raiding group and still looking at my glamour dresser for things I can take out only to put more back in. I feel like an old salt but I'm still pretty new to all of this. The world is full of SO MUCH and even though it has been a year it is hard to think so much time has passed.

So, sometimes for the hell of it I'll watch people's first reactions to FFXIV on Youtube. Just to get their impressions, their thoughts, what caught their attention ect. Listening to them I kind of had a 'ding' lightbulb kind of moment. We - the player - are the protagonist. Yet it isn’t the same as just playing as the main character. In World of Warcraft we're tangential to the actual main characters. We are silent supporting cast members - the ever useful and powerful guy who was in the worst place at the best time - that the world doesn't seem to need sometimes. In SWTOR we were the hero of our own story - both in class and overarching theme - until the recent expansions sort of derailed all together and turned what had been real multiplayer to a solo experience with some multiplayer elements. It sucked the soul out of it and thus me. The Hero isn't always the protagonist but in Final Fantasy 14 we really are. 

The story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark is like a small but dense book series: like Lord of the Rings with a few supplementary books. Arguably it could be massive in it’s volumes like a Wheel of Time. For the sake of this we’re going with WoT sized. Or - as this is on AO3 - a BIG ASS STORY that is still being written and blessedly updates fairly regularly.

It starts out revolving around a plucky young adventurer hopeful. Someone with ambition but no real history that we know of yet. Wide eyed and hungry for their adventure they walk into the inn to register their name and start their story. In its volumes we as players help weave through as if part reader, narrators and part of the main cast. 

The authors and designers and directors know there are MILLIONS of us out here reading and re-reading and consuming and creating all within the world they have made for us and continue to expand. Yet somehow… it is so personal. There are moments we really feel like it is made just for us, for you. We are valued in every word for the small bit we introduced when we rolled our character and picked our first class and city. 

When we start the game we are placed in the rift: an ephemeral plane between our input and the world we are about to enter. There we are and suddenly the space fills with images of our future flashing before us and the echo of three words - Hear, Feel, Think. The next moment we are sucked in...and wake up to an old man asking us if we are all right. In that moment we - dear reader - brave warrior of light - we start our story.

Welcome the story where the reader is really the protagonist.

Let me try to explain.


	2. Let Expanse Contract - Expansions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tldr look at the expansions and the stories to avoid spoilers. From what it tried to accomplish to how it felt to play each expansion from 30,000 ft

Before I dive into the more game mechanics / activity stuff let's talk a bit about the story. Sort of. Here are some spoiler lite thoughts on each expansion. I’ll be discussing this as if the whole game is a massive book series rather than a game with expansions. This is a view from 30,000ft to avoid spoilers. We can dive deeper later on.

The story is easily the thing players tout as the reason to play the game. We can't fully explain why it is so good sometimes but it is the thing we'll excitably shake someone over if they ask what it is about. There are more than just the Main Story Quests (MSQ) we can cover like classes and side quests and unlocks but for now let's talk about the meat and potpotos of the game - the epic of Hydaelyn and Zodiark.

**1.0** was the prequel - that thing that is hinted at a lot during subsequent books; however, a bunch of people may not have read it and it's out of print. If you weren’t there for it the whole thing is a myth and trying to read bootleg copies just… hurts… yet what it contains matters. Pretty well paned as the WORST ever the creators did some drastic things to turn it around to the wondrous tale we know now. The people who did read it are wistful old goats who tell you about the dark times with fondness and a sense of pride. 

**2.0 A Realm Reborn** (ARR) is the first really. It sets up the characters, the world, the political theater, and serves as the place to really set the stage and foreshadow things coming down the line. With each chapter the world opens, the magic systems are introduced, key characters and locations. It feels like a lot, maybe way too long, and everyone cheers you on to reach the last chapter “The Parting Glass.” A few books all under the same overarching theme with a sloggy last book leading into the next collection. Everything is awkward and clunky and takes forever… but not as bad as 1.0. It is the most important series too because it sets the framework for the rest.

**3.0 Heavensward** is the one people wave in your face like " _ **IT'S A SO GOOOD**_ " but you miss the asterisk before the part they say “when you get there eventually”. It is a compelling and thrilling drama, full of conflict, and opening up a new part of the world with characters most people really connect with. It pays off some threads from ARR but plants so many more. If it weren't so important to read ARR people might just skip to it. It also builds up the main cast - and new parts of the cast - as real people who matter deeply to the reader/narrator/protag. A thrilling and heroic arc to be sure. The kind of heroic story you were looking for and that built on the good parts of the books before.

**4.0 Stormblood** is the big ambitious war story that for some kind of falls flat due to its fragmentation. It again picks up and plants seeds and threads from the parts before and yet to be. It introduces some amazing characters, thrilling new places, and rounds out stories you were only sort of aware of up until this point. It wanders a LOT and sometimes people lose interest. It also has a few crossovers that are occasionally confusing and this whole ancient city arc that just takes forever. Still a good ride. The last book/few chapters between series setup for conflict we all know is coming, but something far more pressing for the narrator/protag/reader comes up that must be addressed.

**5.0 Shadowbringers**... the current volume that still has some story to tell us before the next part arrives in the Fall. It is so full of wonderful growth and evolution of characters you’ve known forever. A whole new world where we are no one again; yet, somehow we have to become the most important someone to all the people we meet. It also introduces some people you kind of knew before and will never want to be without again. You are rewarded with gripping stories, heart wrenching struggles, and triumphs that ring true yet hollow. 

Yet again people just want to skip to the best of the series but lose context and connections we have spent hundreds of hours working through. It also introduces concepts and pulls on those threads from FOREVER AGO that may leave some people confused as fuck. Full of references and a few crossovers you really ought to go back and read the rest if you jumped to this point. You won’t be disappointed when the world fully opens before your eyes in this complex and delicious story that learned from all that came before. 

**6.0 Endwalker** … the anticipated ending of the whole epic of Dark and Light. Exciting new places, opening up new parts of the world that were only flags on a map. New people wait for us, new growth for those we know and love, new fears and all in the balance is the fate of our star. At this point it is OUR star, our world, and we’re ready to fight for it. We know so much, have come so far, and know the end will be muddy and beautiful. We don’t know yet what is in store for us but the anticipation will be built up right to the last minute. Please look forward to it!

These things suck you in, hold you tight while making you cry at the same time before letting you go to float in a high of ‘that was so good’. It is a rite of passage to go through all of this. To wonder why people are telling you to ‘just wait’ or you hear that gasp over Discord as you reach a milestone. When you mute yourself to listen to the story then come back to be able to talk about it to your friends. When you have to stand up and pace around because this one character makes you SO ANGRY you can’t stand it. 

That is what good stories feel like. That is what draws you in to read for hours on end. That feeling is what keeps you coming back when something new is released even as you wander off to other interests. That feeling - that experience - is what people who will talk your ear off about FFXIV want you to try and understand is waiting for you.  The friend who wants you to meet their favorite character and squee over how cool they are. The same friend who tells you all about the nicknames they have made for the characters you are now calling friend, nae, family.

The friend who wants to see how you suffer through something so you can suffer together. Who offers you tissues and digital hugs when your soul is ripped out by a boy and his bird. The one who laughs when you realize something and claps at your reaction because they are entertained. Because someone did the same to them. 

When you finally understand why people say a smile better suits a hero and why they feel the way they do. The same friend who shares some of the soundtrack and you won’t be able to make it through listening without getting misty because you KNOW so much more now.

THAT is what we’re all on about.

Story isn't the only thing that keeps people in the game nor the only thing that happens to us as the protag. Dungeons, side quests, raids, pvp, fashion, housing... Hildibrand. These are the things that make the game great. We, as players trying to suck you in, can’t get past how good the story is to properly explain it. Yeah there are tons of youtube vids out there talking about it but I’m gunna try anyway.

We talked story though but we haven't talked about the most important character... you. Lets talk Player Characters and the stories around them.

**Author's Note:**

> Be warned this wanders - not unlike the story - and I want to keep expanding this as more thoughts pop into my head. Feel free to discuss in the comments. Let's enjoy this together.


End file.
